Movie Theater Chain Alamo Draft House Bans Google Glass
Alamo's CEO Tim League made the policy official on Monday, which requires that movie theater-goers remove the smart eyewear as soon as lights dim and the trailers begin.
League told Deadline, whose report was first spotted by 9to5Google, that the theater chain had been considering the move for a while, but didn't take action until people actually began entering the cinema wearing Glass.
Here's what League said to the entertainment publication:
We've been talking about this potential ban for over a year. Google Glass did some early demos here in Austin and I tried them out personally. At that time, I recognized the potential piracy problem that they present for cinemas. I decided to put off a decision until we started seeing them in the theater, and that started happening this month.
Many movie theaters already place bans on bringing recording devices into theaters, but few have spoken out to specifically target Glass. Earlier this year, a man in an AMC movie theater in Columbus, Ohio was interrogated for wearing Google Glass in a theater, but AMC hasn't passed an official policy regarding the headset.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is one of several public venues that have already banned Google's smart headset even though it hasn't officially launched yet. The 5 Point Cafe in Seattle made headlines in November when it became one of the first establishments to publicly ban the use of Google Glass.